Mets Scramble to Assemble Contender

By JOE SEXTON

Published: August 31, 1990

Mel Stottlemyre, uncomfortable in trying to be both diplomatic and enthusiastic, stood on the steps of the dugout at Shea Stadium yesterday and answered one awkward question after another.

Who is Julio Valera? Why is he here? Should he be? Did Stottlemyre have anything to do with the decision to promote the 21-year-old from the minor leagues to the fifth spot in the rotation of a team fighting for the National League East title? Did he think Ron Darling ought to have been been demoted to facilitate Valera's ascension? Was it all going to work?

Stottlemyre, the pitching coach for the Mets, smiled and answered with a shrug.

''I'm like everybody else,'' he said, leaving his sentence unfinished.

''Curious'' was the word that would have completed it.

Mets Obtain Tabler

Curiosity had swept through the clubhouse over the last 24 hours as the Mets, with front office executives working the telephones in an attempt to work a trade and players speculating who was on the other ends of the lines, continued their tumultuous race to patch together a contender.

''We're talking to other teams, looking at our farm system,'' said Joe McIlvaine, the vice president for baseball operations. ''We're trying to find the best 25 guys.''

The search late last night turned up Pat Tabler. The Mets acquired the 32-year-old Tabler from the Royals in exchange for Archie Corbin, a 22-year-old pitching prospect at the Class A level.

Tabler, a veteran of 10 years in the major leagues, hit .272 in 75 games for the Royals and would appear to satisfy the organization's desire for a veteran right-handed bat to be used off the bench as a pinch-hitter. Tabler's chief claim to fame over the years has been his remarkable productivity with the bases loaded. He began the season with an average of .507 in such situations.

''The guy's reputation is for hits in clutch situations,'' said Bob Ojeda, who faced Tabler when he pitched for the Red Sox. ''When you make a deal for a guy at this stage, it's nice when it's a guy who is a proven commodity at this level.''

The Fifth Starter

Despite the addition of Tabler, the subject of the most curiosity was Valera. The Mets, in a move that left a veteran pitcher seething and a host of other players either shaking their heads in anger or scratching them in wonder, yesterday officially promoted Valera to their major league roster and installed him as the fifth starter.

Valera, a right-hander who has not appeared in a major league game in his career, is scheduled to start against the Giants tomorrow, and he could conceivably be the starter next Thursday in Pittsburgh against the Pirates, the team currently two games ahead of the Mets in the National League East.

''He's a very sought-after property,'' said Bud Harrelson, the manager of the Mets and the man behind Valera's arrival. ''He deserves to be here.'' Of Darling, Harrelson was bluntly dismissive: ''He had his opportunities.''

Darling thus was left with the conclusion that the Mets will soon take the oportunity to trade him. Darling, the right-hander with a 92-64 career record, is just 5-9 with the Mets this season and has been badly battered in two of his last three starts.

''Valera's got to have incredible stuff and they have to think he can put them over the top; that is the only rationale they can have,'' Darling said. ''But I don't think the organization thinks things through as much as we might give it credit for.''

Darling, though, remains adamant in his belief that the Mets have fully considered dealing him and that, Tabler's acquisition notwithstanding, it could happen before midnight tonight, the deadline for submitting post-season rosters.

''I know they are thinking about it, and there are plenty of teams out there,'' he said. ''With each day, I'm closer and closer to not being here. I'm no longer an established star here. I didn't get a reason for this. I guess that's how low I've sunk.''

Harrelson's clubhouse, meanwhile, has become overrun with minor leaguers, confused veterans and various regulars struggling with persistent injuries.

Expos Claim Mercado

To make room on their roster for Valera and Tabler, the Mets returned the outfielder Chuck Carr to the minors and placed the catcher Orlando Mercado on waivers. The Expos promptly claimed Mercado in exchange for cash.